Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: The Sponsored World Turned Out to Be Real
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* * *
This place was the central hub connected to every dungeon on the continent, located in the deepest area accessible to demons.
The Demon King, who had taken up residence in a spot no ordinary person could even set foot in, was hiding her body in darkness as black as pitch.
High-ranking demons, who looked ferocious at first glance, began to approach one by one.
"You've come."
"Demon King... You truly, truly descended upon us...!"
"Please lead us, Demon King...!"
They knelt and bowed their heads, paying their respects to their rightful master.
"You've all suffered greatly. Now, report the situation."
"Many demons are dying from lack of sunlight. We wanted to go outside, but with insufficient Demonic Energy, we couldn't leave the dungeon entrances. A few demons managed to break through the scarcity and escape... but given the circumstances, they're likely dead by now. Before you appeared, Demon King, we were simply born in the darkness and died there, repeating that cycle of life."
Demons fundamentally required a certain amount of sunlight.
The notion that demons preferred dark places was just a rule humans had arbitrarily set after driving them out.
The sun aids the growth of all things—why would demons be the exception?
However, to humans, they were beings who evoked overwhelming fear and disgust—
Unable to find common ground, the two sides repeated their conflicts throughout history.
As a result, the demons, always pushed back, had burrowed deep into dungeons, which were like their hometowns.
That wasn't all.
To roam freely outside, they needed "Demonic Energy."
It was like a type of air that only existed meaningfully within dungeons. As demons expanded their living areas bit by bit, it spread around them under its influence.
Long ago, before humans built proper civilizations, they had coexisted to some extent—
But as humans formed nations beyond tribes and expanded their influence, endless enmity with demons followed.
After back-and-forth struggles, the tide turned dramatically with the emergence of saintesses, leading to the current situation where demons hid here unless a Demon King descended.
"Our time of despair was brief. For some reason, the Demonic Energy began intensifying at an alarming rate. Under its influence, our brothers and sisters prospered. Yes—we knew it was the time of your birth, Demon King!
"So, Demon King, please reveal yourself...! Grant us the power to drive out the humans...!"
After hearing the demons out, the Demon King remained silent for a long while—
Then, she spoke casually, as if tossing the words out.
"I have no intention of showing myself to you."
"Pardon...?"
"If you faced my appearance, you'd lose control of your instincts, abandoning reason and retaining only your savage nature. I'm concerned that the curse of bloodshot eyes from sunlight deprivation would cloud your vision."
That was why the Demon King kept her form thoroughly shrouded in shadow.
The reason for a Demon King's existence—it was to supply enough Demonic Energy for demons to roam outside just by her presence alone, while awakening their instincts.
By facing the overwhelmingly ferocious being called the Demon King, demons could draw out the destructive instincts and explosive power inherent within them.
That was the purpose of the Demon King, the aggregate of all Demonic Energy wandering the world.
"But... isn't that the only way? Humans are united under the banner of a mighty empire. Without receiving your power to drive them out and secure territory for us demons—"
"Have you tried talking?"
"Pardon...?"
"I mean, have you tried talking to the humans."
The demon shook its head, expressing reluctance.
"Until now, we lacked Demonic Energy to even leave the dungeons... and according to records left by previous demons, meaningful results from dialogue have never been achieved even once."
"'Until now,' you say?"
"Yes, but..."
The Demon King—what one might call a smile crossed her face.
Though she couldn't show it to anyone... it was the confident smile befitting an absolute being treading a new path.
"I am seriously considering trying dialogue with them."
"But Demon King, they—"
"Do you intend to defy my command?"
"...N-no, that's not it...!"
"F-Forgive us!"
The Demon King let out a short sigh and spoke.
"...My apologies. I had no intention of intimidating you. But I do not wish to repeat a history stained with blood without even attempting it. I believe that's why I descended into this world."
"Demon King..."
The demons bowed their heads once more and replied in loyal tones.
"Understood. We shall follow your will, Demon King."
"With your appearance alone, Demonic Energy is sufficient... We have plenty of time to go out and talk."
The Demon King attempted dialogue with the humans, but—
* * *
The result was far from good.
"You were attacked?"
"Yes... I have no face to show you..."
Blood.
A demon bleeding profusely from its arm spoke in a pained tone.
"As per your command, Demon King... we tried to talk, but they attacked first..."
"You're alive, so it's fine. Casualties?"
"Fortunately... none. However, our comrades in the dungeon in the Gracia region likely suffered greater wounds..."
I see.
So it had to end up like this after all.
As the predecessors said, humans are beings who can never be trusted?
"...How many humans died?"
"Well..."
The response came from another demon supporting the injured one.
"None died."
"...What?"
"We were attacked once, but we couldn't ruin the Demon King's grand purpose of 'dialogue with humans'... so we withdrew immediately."
"...!!"
The Demon King fell silent for a long time before finally forcing out the words.
"...I've put you through something unforgivable."
"No, Demon King."
The Demon King, with memories of the past, knew.
High-ranking demons capable of facing and conversing with her could easily kill one or two humans without issue.
Yet such a being... had chosen not to kill. Because of her command.
'....'
After much deliberation, the Demon King spoke cautiously.
"I wish to speak with the wisest among you. Can you bring them?"
"...!"
The demons exchanged glances, then slowly nodded.
"Please wait a moment, Demon King."
* * *
"You summoned me, Demon King."
The one who appeared was Ballus, the current leader of the demons. He had endured 120 years in a dungeon corner, surviving on minimal Demonic Energy while watching for any opportunity.
While other demons collapsed in mere years due to Demonic Energy shortages, only he lasted 120 years because he had perfected a technique to sustain his life with the bare minimum.
Like humans, demons were born with varying innate amounts of mana, and Ballus happened to have an abundance.
Perhaps because of that, he looked far more ferocious than other high-ranking demons, exuding a powerful sense of intimidation just by his presence.
Of course, even he knelt before the Demon King, queen of demons.
"Yes. What is your name?"
"Ballus, Demon King."
"Ballus. In your view, is attempting dialogue with humans foolish?"
"Foolish... One could certainly think to try it. Any intelligent being would generally realize that coexistence is more advantageous for survival than opposition."
"Then you agree with my intent?"
"..."
Ballus slowly knelt.
"It may be presumptuous to say, Demon King, but humans are not particularly intelligent beings."
"Then we demons lost the entire continent to beings lacking intelligence?"
"I'll be more direct. Above all, they prioritize what they can see with their eyes."
"...Hm?"
"If we summarize human historical records, our appearance and voices strongly trigger instinctive fear in them. That's the current reality—they don't even consider proper dialogue with us. Even if dialogue proceeds with a few advanced individuals, it's reasonable to assume the majority, unable to overcome instinctive fear, won't accept us."
"Ballus, are you saying humans refuse dialogue because our appearance terrifies them?"
"Yes. Of course, differing language systems make communication impossible too... but historically, no non-verbal contact has worked either."
The Demon King was at a loss for words.
The memories inherited from previous Demon Kings were filled with nothing but horrific, blood-soaked events.
All of this... because we look too scary?
"From our perspective, humans are equally alien and frightening. We understand them because of that... but they chose to reject us instead of non-verbal communication."
"If they were slightly more intelligent, they would choose dialogue regardless of appearance. However, in a situation where communication itself fails, your decision, Demon King... while not entirely without merit, is unfortunately likely to be meaningless.
"So that's how it is..."
...Wait.
Does that mean I have that kind of appearance too?
"Ballus. How do humans—and you—perceive my appearance?"
"You already know, but you stand at the pinnacle of we demons, Demon King. An ordinary being would faint just from seeing you. Not just humans—even low-ranking demons surely couldn't withstand your aura and would collapse. High-ranking demons lose reason and rampage upon meeting your gaze; low-rankers have no chance."
"So, to the point of fainting just from looking... that hideous?"
"We demons see it as 'an intimidating appearance befitting the Demon Emperor'... but from the human perspective as dialogue partners, perhaps so."
"..."
The Demon King fell silent again for a long while—
"Are you the same?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you saying that merely facing me causes you to lose reason and be dominated by instinct?"
Ballus bowed deeply once more and said.
"I, Ballus, am ashamed to admit, but I've endured longer than other demons and grown somewhat accustomed to handling Demonic Energy. I believe I can maintain reason for about three minutes."
"Is that so? Then..."
—And the Demon King revealed her true form hidden in the shadows.
"......!!!!"
"What do you think?"
Ballus couldn't even properly face the Demon King, trembling as he barely squeezed out a response.
"Your Majesty... Forgive me, but I retract my statement. Thirty seconds. I think I can last thirty seconds. Please... have mercy...!"
"..."
The Demon King hid her form in the shadows again.
Watching Ballus gasp for air... she couldn't bring herself to speak.
"...My apologies, Ballus."
"No, Demon King. ...I understand your lofty ideals, but once humans notice your presence, the likelihood of them invading to preemptively eliminate us is extremely high. Historically, whenever a 'saintess' appeared, they always came to subjugate the Demon King. They—"
—can't even tolerate the fact that we exist, let alone breathe.
"That's my opinion, Demon King. Of course, I promise to follow whatever decision you make. However, if you decide, please do so quickly. Then..."
"..."
After Ballus left, the Demon King sank into endless contemplation.
Was my appearance meant to incite demons to invade human territory once more?
Was I... born to incite war?
She repeated the unanswerable question to herself, who possessed such a grotesquely hideous appearance.
* * *
'Hmm...'
After reading the short comic in one go, I examined the depiction of the Demon King once more.
No. Truthfully, I couldn't even tell how horrific it was supposed to be to cause such a fuss.
Because in the panel where the Demon King appeared, it was mosaiced.
No matter what, as a reader, I couldn't confirm her appearance.
[ Igugwoden: What's with this mosaic?? ]
[ Donate Some Money: Mosaic? What do you mean...? ]
'....'
Same pattern.
The author just wanted to convey 'the Demon King is insanely scary,' manifested as a mosaic.
If I pry too much, our roleplay falls apart.
Anyway, I just needed to understand she was so grotesquely hideous that dialogue was impossible.
'...Tough issue.'
Truthfully.
Maybe because I'm human too, I felt a bit sorry for the demons' side, but I couldn't say humans were incomprehensible.
Rejecting beings who look different, whose language doesn't communicate, and who evoke fear is instinctual for living creatures.
High-ranking demons or even Ballus might have some cute aspects despite looking fierce, but the mosaiced Demon King seemed utterly horrific without any such redeeming features.
Considering even fellow demons rampage just from seeing her, even more so.
'Still, it's kinda pitiful.'
The Demon King seemed to be trying to break the chain of hatred in her own way.
It felt sad that her appearance prevented even an attempt.
'At least if she looked like Ballus, maybe she could gradually use powers to create opportunities... but mosaiced to that extent...'
...Huh?
Wait.
[ Igugwoden: Author ]
[ Igugwoden: The Demon King looks hideous, but as king of demons, she can at least talk to humans without translation, right? ]
[ Donate Some Money: Yes. ]
[ Donate Some Money: Her appearance excessively incites fear, but she's the only demon uniquely advanced enough to converse normally with humans. ]
[ Igugwoden: Then, hear me out. ]
[ Igugwoden: How much to change the Demon King's appearance? ]
Changing demons and humans to fully communicate would shake the world's foundations, so it'd be expensive.
But just making the Demon King's looks a bit more appealing should be much easier, right?
It's just changing one Demon King, not everyone.
[ Donate Some Money: Changing the Demon King's appearance... depends on what appearance. ]
[ Donate Some Money: To the bare minimum where humans barely feel no fear, it'd take about 45,000 won in power. ]
'Way cheaper!'
45,000 won was an amount I could spare, especially considering Erin's dream world.
It was even a bargain compared to what I paid for this short comic.
...Wait.
[ Igugwoden: Bare minimum no fear? ]
[ Donate Some Money: Yes. ]
[ Donate Some Money: Humans could talk to the Demon King, but as a demon, some unease would linger. ]
'Got it.'
I hit the sponsorship button and punched in the amount.
[ Igugwoden ( Sponsorship /
100,000 won
/ Extra smooches included ) ]
[ Igugwoden: Change the Demon King to have an appearance with tremendous persuasive power to humans + with remaining power, add features so she doesn't awaken demons' instincts and whatever else helps communication. ]
100,000 won should cover it nicely, right?
As long as I exist as a god, I can't stand by and watch meaningless bloodshed.
[ Igugwoden: I'll give you money, so tell them not to fight and get along. ]
—God's Plain Fact, adding it in.